The town where I live just experienced an electrical storm and it got my thinking about the possibility of collecting this electrical energy, the way solar panels collect solar energy.
Find below some information taken from the link I found in regards to this.
"One day, it may be possible to develop ‘collectors’ which can harness this electricity from humid air, just as solar panels make energy from the sun. Ambushing this electricity from the air would also prevent deadly lightning strikes as the air would be devoid of any charged particles".